Patent Application
20200046173
The present disclosure relates to pumps of the type used for dispensing fluids and more particularly to a spring for use in a pump for dispensing skincare and cleaning products such as soaps, gels, disinfectants and the like. The disclosure is specifically directed to pumps and springs that are axially compressible and that cause dispensing by an axial reduction in volume of a pump chamber.
Fluid dispensers of various types are known. In particular, for dispensing of cleaning products such as soaps, there are a wide variety of manually or automatically actuated pumps that dispense a given quantity of the product into a user's hand.
Consumer products may include a dispensing outlet as part of the package, actuated by a user pressing down the top of the package. Such packages use a dip tube extending below the level of the liquid and a piston pump that aspirates the liquid and dispenses it downwards through an outlet spout.
Commercial dispensers frequently use inverted disposable containers that can be placed in dispensing devices, affixed to walls or built into the counter of washrooms or the like. The pump may be integrated as part of the disposable container or may be part of the permanent dispensing device or both. Such devices are generally more robust and, if they are affixed to the wall, greater freedom is available in the direction and amount of force that is required for actuation. Such devices may also use sensors that identify the location of a user's hand and cause a unit dose of the product to be dispensed. This avoids user contact with the device and the associated cross-contamination. It also prevents incorrect operation that can lead to damage and premature ageing of the dispensing mechanism.
A characteristic of inverted dispensers is the need to prevent leakage. Since the pump outlet is located below the container, gravity will act to cause the product to escape if there is any leakage through the pump. This is particularly the case for relatively volatile products such as alcohol-based solutions. Achieving leak free operation is often associated with relatively complex and expensive pumps. For the convenience of replacing empty disposable containers however, at least part of the pump is generally also disposable and must be economical and environmentally acceptable to produce. There is therefore a need for a pump that is reliable and drip free, yet simple, economical and environmentally acceptable to produce. There is also a need to accurately define the flow characteristics of inlet and outlet check valves for such pumps. Each check valve may be required to operate under different flow and pressure conditions. In particular, for volatile or viscous liquids, the relative opening and closing pressures of the respective valves may need to be carefully matched. Manufacturing both valves from the same material in an integrated moulding procedure may limit the design options considerably. It would be desirable to provide a dispensing system having greater design freedom in relation to the inlet and outlet valves.
One disposable dispensing system that uses a pump to dispense a unit dose of liquid from an inverted collapsible container has been described in WO2009/104992. The pump is formed of just two elements, namely a resilient pumping chamber and a regulator, having an inner valve and an outer valve. Operation of the pump occurs by application of a lateral force to the pumping chamber, causing it to partially collapse and expel its contents through the outer valve. Refilling of the pumping chamber occurs through the inner valve once the lateral force is removed. The filling force is provided by the inherent resilience of the wall of the pumping chamber, which must be sufficient to overcome any back-pressure due to a resistance to collapse of the container. Although the pump is extremely effective, the lateral force required to operate the pump can sometimes limit its integration into a dispenser body. Other dispensing systems use an axial force, i.e., directed in alignment with the direction in which the fluid is dispensed. It would be desirable to provide a pump that could operate in this manner that could also be integrated into existing axially operating dispensing solutions.
It is desirable to have a pump that may be disposable and that is desirably reliable and drip free when used, yet simple, hygienic, environmentally acceptable and economical to produce.
There is disclosed a plastomer spring for use in a fluid pump, the spring including a first end portion and a second end portion and one or more spring sections therebetween, which connect the first end portion to the second end portion and is compressible in an axial direction of the spring from an initial condition to a compressed condition, wherein the first end portion defines a valve chamber for captively receiving a moveable valve element, the valve chamber including a valve seat against which the first valve element may seal to prevent fluid flow through the valve chamber. Provision of a captive valve element introduces considerably greater design freedom in the design of this valve. The valve may be either the inlet valve or the outlet valve or both according to other aspects of the configuration. In one embodiment, it is provided as an inlet valve with flow through the valve seat past the moveable valve element into the valve chamber.
In one embodiment, the valve chamber includes a valve support element and a lid. The valve support element and the lid may seal to one another to define the valve chamber. A function of the valve support element may be to ensure correct guidance of the valve element within the valve chamber. A function of the lid may be to allow positioning of the valve element within the valve chamber during a fabrication process or to allow the spring to be integrally moulded as a single part. The valve seat may be defined around an opening through the lid. The opening may be an inlet opening to the valve chamber, which opening may be closed by the moveable valve element. Other configurations are also possible, e.g., the valve seat may be defined at an end of the valve chamber opposite to the lid and/or the opening in the lid may be configured as an outlet opening from the valve chamber.
The lid may be manufactured as a separate component from the valve support element and/or the remainder of the spring. Nevertheless, in order to reduce the number of components and facilitate assembly, or for other reasons, it may also be integrally formed with the valve chamber. This may be achieved using an integral hinge or a web or strap of plastomer material. The lid may simply close over the valve support element and be held in place by other means, e.g., gluing, welding clamping or otherwise. Alternatively, the lid and valve support element may be arranged to mechanically engage together in a snap, plug or other interference fit.
The valve element may be a free-floating element, acted upon only by gravity, fluid flow or an external field such as a magnetic field. Alternatively, it may be tethered or biased directly. It may have any appropriate form, including spherical, hemispherical, bullet shaped, disc shaped or otherwise, depending upon the form of the valve seat and the valve chamber. It may be solid, hollow or partially hollow.
In one embodiment, the spring may also include a biasing spring within the valve chamber for biasing the moveable valve element against the seat. The strength of the biasing spring may be adapted according to the nature of the fluid to be pumped and/or to the desirable response of the valve operation. The biasing spring may have any appropriate form including helical, leaf spring or the like and may be manufactured of any suitable material, including metals, rubbers and plastomers. It may also be similar in design to the spring sections.
As has been described above, there is considerable advantage in being able to manufacture a pump with a minimal number of components. This reduces the number of production steps and also reduces the number of assembly steps. Nevertheless, it can lead to increased complexity of design, making moulding tools more expensive. The choice of whether to manufacture portions of the spring valve combination integrally or separately is thus a trade-off between these two criteria. In one embodiment, the biasing spring and/or the moveable valve element may be integrally formed with the first end portion. The biasing spring and/or the moveable valve element may be moulded in position within the valve chamber or may be moulded in an exploded position and folded into the valve chamber during assembly. The biasing spring and/or the moveable valve element may also be integrally moulded and subsequently (partially) separated from each other during assembly.
Another consideration in relation to the choice of integral moulding or separate manufacture lies in the material properties of the respective components. If the spring, valve element and biasing spring are integrally moulded, this may limit them all to being of the same material. It may in certain circumstances be desirable to manufacture one of these elements from a different material. This may be the case if it is desired to make the valve element from a denser material than the spring, e.g., from metal or ceramic. Alternatively, it may be desirable to form the biasing spring to have a spring constant that is not easily achievable with the plastomer material used for the spring sections of the spring itself.
With reference to the spring and its respective spring sections, it is noted that by providing a plastomer element, operable in an axial direction in this manner, a stable spring may be obtained that does not twist or otherwise distort during compression and may be easily manufactured by injection moulding in a single piece. Unlike metal springs, by the use of polymer materials, the spring may be made compatible with multiple different cleaning fluids, without the risk of corrosion or contamination. Furthermore, recycling of the pump may be facilitated, given that other elements of the pump are also of polymer material.
The spring sections may be rhombus shaped, joined together at adjacent corners. In the present context, reference to “rhombus shaped” is not intended to limit the spring sections to the precise geometrical shape having flat sides and sharp corners. The skilled person will understand that the shape is intended to denote an injection mouldable form that will allow resilient collapse, while using the material properties of the plastomer to generate a restoring force. Furthermore, since the resiliency of the structure is at least partially provided by the material at the corner regions, these may be at least partially reinforced, curved, radiused or the like in order to optimise the required spring characteristic. In one embodiment, each spring section includes four flat leaves joined together along hinge lines that are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the axial direction. In this context, flat is intended to denote planar. The resulting configuration may also be described as concertina like.
The flat leaves may be of constant thickness over their area. The thickness may be between 0.5 mm and 1.5 mm, depending on the material used and the geometrical design of the pump and the spring. For example, a thickness between 0.7 and 1.2 mm has been found to offer excellent collapse characteristics in the case of leaves having a length between hinge lines of around 7 mm. In other words, the ratio of the thickness of the leaf to its length may be around 1:10 but may range from a ratio of 1:5 to a ratio of 1:15. The skilled person will recognise that for a given material, this ratio will be of significance in determining the spring constant of the resulting spring. In one alternative, the leaves may be thicker at their midline and may be thinned or feathered towards their edges. This feathering may be advantageous from a moulding perspective, allowing easier extraction from the mould. It also serves to concentrate the majority of the spring force to the midline. Where the spring is to be located in a cylindrical housing, this is the portion of the spring that provides the majority of the restoring force.
Additionally, as a measure to allow the spring to be installed in a cylindrical housing or pump chamber, the spring sections may have curved edges. The spring may then have a generally circular configuration, as viewed in the axial direction, i.e., it may define a cylindrical outline. It will be understood that the curved edges may be sized such that the spring is cylindrical in its unstressed initial condition or in its compressed condition or at an intermediate position between these two extremes, for example in its compressed condition.
The precise configuration of the spring will depend on the characteristics required in terms of extension and spring constant. An important factor in determining the degree of extension of the spring is the initial geometry of the rhombus shapes of the spring sections. In one embodiment, the spring sections, in their initial condition, join at adjacent corners having an internal angle α of between 90 and 120 degrees. In a fully relaxed spring, angle α may be between 60 to 160 or 100 to 130 degrees, depending on the geometries and materials used for the spring as well as the pump body. The angle α is normally slightly higher when the spring is inserted into the pump chamber and in its initial stage before pump compression occurs, e.g., 5-10 degrees higher than for a fully relaxed spring. For a spring in its compressed condition, the angle α increases towards 180 degrees and, for example, may be 160 to 180 degrees in a compressed condition. For example, the angle α may be 120 degrees for a spring in an initial condition and 160 degrees for a spring in a compressed condition.
A particularly desirable characteristic of the disclosed spring is its ability to undergo a significant reduction in length. For example, the spring sections can be arranged to compress from an open configuration to a substantially flat configuration in which the spring sections or the leaves lie close against each other, i.e., adjacent sides of the rhombus shaped spring sections become co-planar.
In a particular embodiment, each spring section may be able to compress axially to less than 60%, or less than 50% of its uncompressed length. The overall reduction in length will depend on the number of spring sections, and, in actual operation, there may be neither need nor desire to compress each spring section to the maximum. In a particular embodiment, the spring may include at least three spring sections which may be identical in geometry. A particular embodiment has five spring section, which offers a good compromise between stability and range of compression.
The skilled person will be aware of various polymer materials that could provide the desired elastic properties required to achieve compression and recovery without excessive hysteresis losses. Thermoplastic polymers that can function like elastomers are generally referred to as plastomers. In the present context, reference to plastomer material is intended to include all thermoplastic elastomers that are elastic at ambient temperature and become plastically deformable at elevated temperatures, such that they can be processed as a melt and be extruded, or injection moulded.
The plastomer spring can be formed by injection moulding and according to a particularly significant aspect, the spring may be integrally formed with additional elements, e.g., those required for its function as part of a fluid pump. In particular, the first and second end portions may be formed to interact with other components of the pump to maintain the spring in position. In one embodiment, they may form cylindrical or part-cylindrical plugs. The first and second end portions may also be formed with passages or channels to allow fluid to flow along the spring past or through these respective portions.
In one embodiment, the spring may further include an integrally formed second valve element. The integrally formed second valve element may be identical to the first valve element or otherwise. In one embodiment the second valve element may include a circumferential skirt formed on the second end portion, projecting outwardly and extending away from the first end portion. The second valve element may surround the second end portion or extend axially beyond the second end portion. In one embodiment, the second valve element may be conical or frusto-conical, widening in a direction away from the first end portion. The integration of one or more valve elements with the spring reduces the number of components that must be manufactured and also simplifies the assembly operations. Given that these components are of the same material, their disposal may also be a single operation.
The fluid pump may include a pump body having an elongate pump chamber surrounding the spring and extending from a pump inlet adjacent to the first end portion to a pump outlet adjacent to the second end portion. As indicated above, the pump chamber may be cylindrical, and the spring may also have an exterior profile that is cylindrical in order to match and fit the pump chamber. The spring may have an external cross-sectional shape that corresponds to an internal cross-section of the pump chamber. In one embodiment, the pump chamber is cylindrical, and the spring defines a generally cylindrical envelope in this region.
As indicated above, the material for the pump body and/or the spring may be a plastomer. A plastomer may be defined by its properties, such as the Shore hardness, the brittleness temperature and Vicat softening temperature, the flexural modulus, the ultimate tensile strength and the melt index. Depending on, for example, the type of fluid to be dispensed, and the size and geometry of the pump body or spring, the plastomer material used in the pump may vary from a soft to a hard material. The plastomer material forming at least the spring may thus have a shore hardness of from 50 Shore A (ISO 868, measured at 23 degrees C.) to 70 Shore D (ISO 868, measured at 23 degrees C.). Optimal results may be obtained using a plastomer material having a shore A hardness of 70-95 or a shore D hardness of 20-50, e.g., a shore A hardness of 75-90. Furthermore, the plastomer material may have brittleness temperature (ASTM D476) lower than −50 degrees Celsius, e.g., from −90 to −60 degrees C., and a Vicat softening temperature (ISO 306/SA) of 30-90 degrees Celsius, e.g., 40-80 degrees C. The plastomers may additionally have a flexural modulus in the range of 15-40 MPa, 20-30 MPa, or 25-27 MPa (ASTM D-790). Likewise, the plastomers may have an ultimate tensile strength in the range of 3-10 MPa, or 5-8 MPa (ASTM D-638). Additionally, the melt flow index may be at least 10 dg/min, or in the range of 20-50 dg/min (ISO standard 1133-1, measured at 190 degrees C.).
Suitable plastomers include natural and/or synthetic polymers. Particularly suitable plastomers include styrenic block copolymers, polyolefins, elastomeric alloys, thermoplastic polyurethanes, thermoplastic copolyesters and thermoplastic polyamides. In the case of polyolefins, the polyolefin can be used as a blend of at least two distinct polyolefins and/or as a co-polymer of at least two distinct monomers. In one embodiment, plastomers from the group of thermoplastic polyolefin blends are used, or in some cases from the group of polyolefin copolymers. A particular group of plastomers is the group of ethylene alpha olefin copolymers. Amongst these, ethylene 1-octene copolymers have been shown to be particularly suitable, especially those having the properties as defined above. Suitable plastomers are available from ExxonMobil Chemical Co. as well as Dow Chemical Co.
It will be understood that the spring may be incorporated into the pump in a number of different ways to assist in the pumping action. In a particular embodiment, the pump chamber may be compressible together with the spring in the axial direction. This may be achieved by providing the pump chamber with a flexible wall that distorts during compression of the pump chamber, e.g., in the form of a bellows or a stretchable tube. In one embodiment, the flexible wall may invert or roll-up as the spring compresses. The overall spring constant of the pump will then be the combined effect of the spring and the pump chamber. The spring may provide support to the pump chamber during its distortion. In this context, support is intended to denote that it prevents the pump chamber from distorting uncontrollably to a position in which it might not be able to restore itself. It may also assist in controlling the distortion to ensure a more constant recovery during the return stroke. It is noted that the pump body or the pump chamber may also provide support to the spring in order to allow it to compress axially in the desired manner.
In order for the spring and pump body to operate effectively together, the first and second end portions may engage with the pump inlet and pump outlet respectively, to retain such engagement during compression of the pump chamber. To this effect, the end portions may be in the form of plugs as described above that closely fit into cylindrical recesses in the inlet and outlet respectively, while allowing passages for fluid to pass by.
According to one embodiment, the spring and the pump body may be injection moulded of the same material. This is especially advantageous from the perspective of recycling and reduces the material streams during manufacture.
Still more advantageously, because of the efficient design described above, the whole construction of the fluid pump may be achieved using just two components, namely the pump body and the spring, whereby the spring includes a one-way inlet valve and the pump body and the spring interact to define a one-way outlet valve. As will be further described below, the moveable valve element is retained within the valve chamber and seals against the valve seat to form the inlet valve while the second valve element may engage against a wall of the pump outlet to form the outlet valve.
In a particular embodiment, the valve chamber includes a lid as described above and hereinafter and the pump body engages and retains the lid. The lid may define an opening to the valve chamber and the retention of the lid by the pump body may be a sealing connection such that no flow can pass around the lid, i.e., between the lid and the pump body. Additionally or alternatively, the lid may seal to the valve support element defining the pump chamber. The pump body may serve to mechanically engage the lid against the valve support element. In one embodiment, the pump body has an annular groove and the valve support element has a ring element that engages with the annular groove. The lid may also be engaged in such an annular groove, e.g., together with the ring element.
Various manufacturing procedures may be used to form the pump including blow moulding, thermoforming, 3D-printing and other methods. Some or all of the elements forming the pump may be manufactured by injection moulding. In a particular embodiment, the pump body and the spring are each formed by injection moulding. The pump body and the spring may both be of the same material or each may be optimised independently using different materials. As described above, the material may be optimised for its plastomer qualities and also for its suitability for injection moulding. Additionally, although in one embodiment, the spring is manufactured of a single material, it is not excluded that it may be manufactured of multiple materials.
In the case that the spring is integrally formed to include inlet and outlet valves, the designer is faced with two conflicting requirements, to a large degree depending on the fluid that will be pumped:
1. The valves shall be flexible enough to allow for a good seal;
2. The spring shall be stiff enough to provide the required spring constant to pump the fluid.
The disclosure further relates to a pump assembly including a pump as described above, and a pair of sleeves, arranged to slidably interact to guide the pump during a pumping stroke, including a stationary sleeve engaged with the pump inlet and a sliding sleeve engaged with the pump outlet. The stationary sleeve and sliding sleeve may have mutually interacting detent surfaces that prevent their separation and define the pumping stroke. Furthermore, the stationary sleeve may include a socket having an axially extending male portion and the pump inlet has an outer diameter, dimensioned to engage within the socket and includes a boot portion, rolled over on itself to receive the male portion.
Moreover, the disclosure relates to a disposable fluid dispensing package, including a pump as described above or a pump assembly as earlier described, sealingly connected to a collapsible product container.
The disclosure also relates to a method of dispensing a fluid from a fluid pump as described above or hereinafter by exerting an axial force on the pump body between the pump inlet and the pump outlet to cause axial compression of the spring and a reduction in volume of the pump chamber.
The disclosure further provides for an integrally formed valve comprising a captive valve element as described above or further described hereunder. The integrally formed valve comprises a valve support element and a lid, integrally connected together by a living hinge and together forming a valve chamber, the lid comprising an inlet opening to the valve chamber. The valve further comprises a valve element having a biasing spring, integrally formed together with the valve support element, the biasing spring acting to bias the valve element against a valve seat formed around the inlet opening.
The features and advantages of the present disclosure will be appreciated upon reference to the following drawings of a number of exemplary embodiments, in which:
The dispenser 100 includes a rear shell 110 and a front shell 112 that engage together to form a closed housing 116 that can be secured using a lock 118. The housing 116 is affixed to a wall or other surface by a bracket portion 120. At a lower side of the housing 116 is an actuator 124, by which the dispensing system 1 may be manually operated to dispense a dose of cleaning fluid or the like. The operation, as will be further described below, is described in the context of a manual actuator but the invention is equally applicable to automatic actuation, e.g., using a motor and sensor.
The pump assembly 300 has an outer configuration that corresponds substantially to that described in WO2011/133085. This allows the pump assembly 300 to be used interchangeably with existing dispensers 100. Nevertheless, the interior configuration of the pump assembly 300 is distinct from both the pump of WO2011/133085 and that of WO2009/104992, as will be further described below.
At the lower side of the container 200, there is provided a rigid neck 214 provided with a connecting flange 216. The connecting flange 216 engages with a stationary sleeve 310 of the pump assembly 300. The pump assembly 300 also includes a sliding sleeve 312, which terminates at an orifice 318. The sliding sleeve 312 carries an actuating flange 314 and the stationary sleeve has a locating flange 316. Both the sleeves 310, 312 are injection moulded of polycarbonate although the skilled person will be well aware that other relatively rigid, mouldable materials may be used. In use, as will be described in further detail below, the sliding sleeve 312 is displaceable by a distance D with respect to the stationary sleeve 310 in order to perform a single pumping action.
The first end portion 402 includes a cylindrical valve support element 416 and a lid 442 connected together by a hinge 444. An outlet opening 418 is formed through the valve support element 416.
The second end portion 404 has a rib 430 and a frusto-conical shaped body 432 that narrows in a direction away from the first end portion 402. On its exterior surface the frusto-conical shaped body 432 is formed with two diametrically opposed flow passages 434. At its extremity, it is provided with an integrally formed second valve element 436 projecting conically outwardly and extending away from the first end portion.
Starting with
In this view according to
At the other end of the pump body 500, the outlet portion 404 engages within the pump outlet 504. The rib 430 has a greater diameter than the pump outlet 504 and serves to position the frusto-conical shaped body 432 and the second valve element 436 within the pump outlet 504. The outside of the pump outlet 504 also engages within the orifice 318 of the sliding sleeve 312 with the nozzle 512 slightly protruding. The annular protrusion 516 is sized to be slightly larger than the orifice 318 and maintains the pump outlet 504 at the correct position within the orifice 318. The second valve element 436 has an outer diameter that is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the pump outlet 504, whereby a slight pre-load is also applied, sufficient to maintain a fluid-tight seal in the absence of any external pressure.
In the position shown in
The force F causes the actuating flange 314 to move out of engagement with the detent surfaces 342 and the sliding sleeve 312 to move upwards with respect to the stationary sleeve 310. This force is also transmitted by the orifice 318 and the annular protrusion 516 to the pump outlet 504, causing this to move upwards together with the sliding sleeve 312. The other end of the pump body 500 is prevented from moving upwards by engagement of the pump inlet 502 with the socket 330 of the stationary sleeve 310.
The movement of the sliding sleeve 312 with respect to the stationary sleeve 310 causes an axial force to be applied to the pump body 500. This force is transmitted through the flexible wall 530 of the pump chamber 510, which initially starts to collapse at its weakest point, namely the thin walled section 534 adjacent to the pump outlet 504. As the pump chamber 510 collapses, its volume is reduced and fluid is ejected through the nozzle 512. Reverse flow of fluid through the pump inlet 502 is prevented by the first valve element 420, which is pressed against the inlet valve seat 446 by the biasing spring 421 and the additional fluid pressure within the pump chamber 510.
Additionally, the force is transmitted through the spring 400 by virtue of the engagement between the rib 430 and the pump outlet 504 and the ring element 414 being engaged in the groove 540 at the pump inlet 502. This causes the spring 400 to compress, whereby the internal angle α at the corners 412 increases.
As a result of the spring sections 406 collapsing, the internal angle α at the corners 412 approaches 180° and the overall diameter of the spring 400 at this point increases. As illustrated in
Once the pump has reached the position of
After the user releases the actuator 124 or the force F is otherwise discontinued, the compressed spring 400 will exert a net restoring force on the pump body 500. The spring depicted in the present embodiment exerts an axial force of 20N in its fully compressed condition. This force acts between the ring element 414 and the rib 430 and exerts a restoring force between the pump inlet 502 and the pump outlet 504 to cause the pump chamber 510 to revert to its original condition. The pump body 500 by its engagement with the sleeves 310, 312 also causes these elements to return towards their initial position as shown in
As the spring 400 expands, the pump chamber 510 also increases in volume leading to an under pressure within the fluid contained within the pump chamber 510. The second valve element 436 is closed and any under pressure causes the second valve element 436 to engage more securely against the inner surface of the pump outlet 504.
As the skilled person appreciates, the spring may provide a major restoring force during the return stroke. However, as the spring 400 extends, its force may also be partially augmented by radial pressure acting on it from the flexible wall 530 of the pump chamber 510. The pump chamber 510 may also exert its own restoring force on the sliding sleeve 312 due to the inversion of the thin walled section 534, which attempts to revert to its original shape. Neither the restoring force of the spring 400 nor that of the pump chamber 510 is linear but the two may be adapted together to provide a desirable spring characteristic. In particular, the pump chamber 510 may exert a relatively strong restoring force at the position depicted in
The spring 400 of
The pump/spring may develop a maximum resistance of between 1 N and 50 N, or between 20 N and 25 N on compression. Furthermore, the pump/spring bias on the reverse stroke for an empty pump may be between 1 N and 50 N, between 1 N and 30 N, between 5 N and 20 N, or between 10 N and 15 N. In general, the compression and bias forces may depend on and be proportional to the intended volume of the pump. The values given above may be appropriate for a 1 ml pump stroke.
Thus, the present disclosure has been described by reference to the embodiments described above. It will be recognized that these embodiments are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms well known to those of skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
The present application is a national stage entry under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of, and claims priority to, International Application No. PCT/EP2017/057411, filed Mar. 29, 2017, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2017/057411 | 3/29/2017 | WO | 00 |
